Chronosynclastic Infundibulum » book review

Lord of the Flies

Semantic Overload — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 07:08:00 +0000

Just finished the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. It is one of the best books I have read so far. The metaphors in the book are amazingly accurate to the last letter. Gotta admit, its a work of a genius.
For those who havent read it, Lord of the Flies is about a group of kids who are the only survivors of a plane crash in a remote island. They must now adjust to the living world without adult authority or rules. They must find a way to organize themselves into a society for their physical survival and social justice. The book illustrates this formation of scoety and rules with phenomenal accuracy. In fact, this book is used as a reference in many sociology courses when they talk about gang behavior, peer pressure and trying the explain the inherent tendency of man to identify himself with a group, form a communal identity. I will not talk anymore about the book, wouldn’t want to spoil it for others.
What takes the cake is to actually see the book in action in your everyday life. The hunger for power, the lust to wield authority, the desire for exclusivity, it all graphically, but metaphorically, depicted in the ‘Lord of the Flies’. And I got to see it all in action in a mailing group. At first I was kinda taken aback by the reaction that I saw to an ‘intrusion’ into the clique, but as the sat back and watched the flood of messages being posted it didnt take too long for me to put it all in place, they fit like a jigsaw puzzle. Golding had it all figureed out, and I was watching a live experiment simply validating what he wrote! What a rush!!!

"A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami

Semantic Overload — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese author with a lot of his work translated into english. “A Wild Sheep Chase” is my first introduction to Murakami’s works. This was suggested to me by a sweet lady at the reference desk in the university library. Incidentally, the university library is also a public library. My university being a land grant university, it is obligatory to open the library for public. A consequence of that is that you get stuff u dont expect to be available in a typical university library. For instance, u can borrow the latest edition of Playboy over the counter. They also maintain archives of newspapers since the 1900s.

What struck as amusing, at the same time reflecting the quality of his works (and it’s translation), is that although the setting of his novel is in Japan. The novel makes sense only if it were in Japan, yet the description, plot and the mood is so universal that anyone can relate to it. It is almost like he picked an alien to land on Japan, see his story unfold and get the alien to write it all. Though simplistic and language and easy to read, the quality is of the highest order. This is one book I would recommend everyone to read, regardless of your taste.

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Semantic Overload — Mon, 10 May 2004 07:00:00 +0000

just finished reading Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. An amazing piece of literature.

Here is my formal review of the book:

Book Title: Cat’s Cradle

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Genre: Science Fiction

Review:

The mixing of religion and politics into an unholy, macabre government is an all too familiar concept that has been harped upon by the indian media and press thoughout the last decade or so. Yet, none have come close to illustrating the utopia in such a setup like Vonnegut has in his book, Cat’s Cradle.

This book has something to enjoy for all kinds of readers. Vonnegut has been able to capture sardonic humour, the concept, need, evolution and insignificance of religion, impossibility of succeeding in one’s responsibility to family and work wholly, apocalyptic end of the world, surviving an armegeddon, all into a compact, powerful novel less then 200 pages long. For the record, the genre is Science Fiction, but this classification is more a formality than a reflection of what the book has in store for you.

Vonnegut makes sharp, subtle criticisms of religion, society and human nature without going into lengthy description and whining about it. This is master story telling.

To answer why one needs religion, Vonnegut quotes verses from a “holy book” (of a religion invented in the book),

“I wanted all things

To seem to make some sense,

So we all could be happy, yes,

Instead of tense.

And I made up lies

So that they all fit nice,

And I made this sad world

A par-a-dise”

How can a religion be based solely on lies? If you cannot understand this, he says, you cannot understand the book.

Vonnegut’s description of the religion has many parallel’s the christinanity, and so do the characters in the book. He uses this analogy to impressive effects of exposing the untruth that religions are based on, and the contradictions that come bundled with it. He uses this relation to sent home the point that people feel that they dont hold responsibility to their creations including god himself.

Felix Hoenikker was more the father of the atomic bomb than the father of his children. That was a choice he made. He did not feel that he was responsible for this children. Could that be anything more than a cardinal sin? Could that alter the history of the world?

This book is not about religion alone. It is merely a part of it. It is science fiction, and has a lot to offer a science fiction fan. He talks of the life of the father of atomic bomb, and what a mind like that is capable of. He talks of lateral thinking, “thinking out of the box” to use the hackneyed phrase. Think of a weapon more powerful than the atomic bomb, and when let loose, the armegeddon that is can cause.

After reading Cat’s Cradle, you are left wondering “What’s worse? Armegeddon, or surviving it?”

I have talked a lot about the book, but have taken affort not to talk anything about the specific plot of the book (assuming there is one that everyone can agree on). I choose to do so, coz otherwise, you wouldnt enjoy it. I guess by the act of writing this review, I have already introduced a bias. So I will stop now.

A definite must read, especially if you havent read any Vonnegut books before.